


The Remaining Ones

by TSerpillum



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Insomnia, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-31 18:36:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13980993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TSerpillum/pseuds/TSerpillum
Summary: Hauntingly still, the corridors of the Survey Corps’ headquarters seemed more like a trap than a shelter for the souls that once inhabited it.Shadows slowly swayed on the walls of ancient stone, writhing agonized in their last ounces of strenght, yet failing to die over and over again.The only sounds were careful steps and the breathing of the 14th Commander who still couldn’t quite comprehend the events which led to her promotion.No light came from under the crack of Erwins office door, nor from the one which belonged to Mike.Her legs stopped moving and against all logic and reason, she waited to hear Erwin yawn out a chuckle over Levis comment on his work habits, or Nanaba stiffling her giggles over Mikes grumpiness this late at night.“Squad Leader, it’s time to get some sleep.” she recalled the voice in her weary mind, but refused to let the last memory of him become too vivid.Now it’s just the nine of them.The eyepatch she wore was dry under her touch.





	The Remaining Ones

Hauntingly still, the corridors of the Survey Corps’ headquarters seemed more like a trap than a shelter for the souls that once inhabited it.

Shadows slowly swayed on the walls of ancient stone, writhing agonized in their last ounces of strenght, yet failing to die over and over again.

The only sounds were careful steps and the breathing of the 14th Commander who still couldn’t quite comprehend the events which led to her promotion.

No light came from under the crack of Erwins office door, nor from the one which belonged to Mike.

Her legs stopped moving and against all logic and reason, she waited to hear Erwin yawn out a chuckle over Levis comment on his work habits, or Nanaba stiffling her giggles over Mikes grumpiness this late at night.

“Squad Leader, it’s time to get some sleep.” she recalled the voice in her weary mind, but refused to let the last memory of him become too vivid.

 

Now it’s just the nine of them.

The eyepatch she wore was dry under her touch.

 

 

 

The first stain of ink found its place on his sleeve hours ago.

It was joined by one more, occupying more space, only to draw several more to them.

Shapeless on the white shirt, they couldn’t stop Armins hands from moving over the papers and his mind from racing back and forth between what he knew and what he saw in the inherited memories. It was like living a nightmare, wide awake, with no chances of waking up for anyone of them.

All victories come with a price and if he knew its amount beforehand, then…

Brushing the blonde strands back with his fingers, a shudder ran down his spine. The Warrior programme, interment camps, a story taken from a fairytale, except it was too dark to be told to children. Some of it was even for adults too much to take.

With the access to the personal hell of his predecessor, the current holder of the Colossal Titan pitied him. Even if he said his weak no, it would have fallen on deaf ears of those who chose to cling to whatever deceitful promise was given to them. As he didn't want to disappoint his father, Bertholdt did as he was told, obedient but torn inside.

Armin could see over Wall Maria down onto Shiganshina, unable to make out the horrified faces yet feeling all that Bertholdt did: the trembling, the insecurity in his own abilities, fear, and the need to accomplish what they came for which overpowered him. Because of his family, because of...  _Annie._  

The first time those memories rose to the surface for him to see, he cried in Mikasas arms, her tears rolling down her chin to his head safely tucked beneath it.

He needed a break, from those memories, from his new self, so he gathered his notes and records scattered around him in the empty room, trying to bring some order and sense to them, as well as to his mind.

 

The long creaking sound of the door being opened didn’t surprise him.

During nighttime Mikasa checks up on both him and Eren, who recently began to change. A cold claw tugged on his insides, yet he chose to remain silent until his understanding of his friend’s behaviour became better, improved by the impact of the ihherited memories have on him if he counted on the mechanism to be the same or similar in both cases.

Mikasa saw the struggle in both of them, it was evident in her downcast gaze, away in a nostalgic nowhere land, and it hurt Armin deeply to see her suffer so silently.

The changes are rapid, the losses heavy enough to make the persons they were yesterday unrecognizable today, and his childhood friend he grew to love like a sister seemed to fear the future ahead of them.

“I’ll soon get to bed, don’t worry” he spoke gently without turning to the door.

Studying the rough sketch of advanced weaponry he still couldn’t fully visualise, he sighed in frustration over the missing pieces hidden in the memories he still couldn't reach.

“Skipping on sleep won’t do any good for your brain, Armin.”

The voice startled him so he dropped the papers as if they were burning his fingers. 

Hanji, their new commander, stood in the doorframe, seemingly unsure if he wants her to enter the room.

“That’s what Moblit always told me.”

Grief and deep fondness were entwined in her voice, and for a stretching moment Armins gaze lingered around her eyepatch, on the features softened by the joined lights of their oil lamps and numbing pain.

“Squa…” he began, unused to call anyone other than Erwin, the symbol of humanities strength and victory, by the title the former Squad leader now had. “I mean Commander…” in hurry he corrected himself, the embarrassment made his fists clench.

“I’ll also need some time to adjust.” She admitted out of the blue, breaking through the barrier between them.

The truth is ever since that day no conversation between them happened. Occupied with their own shares of grief, both of them avoided the other, at complete loss of words and feelings. 

So she made the first move, testing his reaction towards her.

The shoulders burdened by an enormous role dropped visibly faced with clear evidence that Hanji didn’t hold a grudge against him. Captain Levi, albeit detached and locked in his own despair, didn’t either. A fact Armin will eternally be grateful on.

“I can see his memories.” he breathed, the desperation to talk about it growing rapidly. “Not all of them and lots of this seems senseless for now, but with your help I could figure it out.”

It was a plea for guidance, for mentorship of a boy whose eyes were looking towards the future, however dark it might seem now with the latest reveals and the absence of Erwins lead.

The spark in the bright blue tugged on Hanjis lips, her understanding for Levis decision gaining even more solid ground.

She accepted it then, yeah, but her understanding of it couldn’t prevail over the feeling of heavy loss the both of them shared.

It's all up to her now - a possibility announced some time ago became reality. She will either make it or break it.

Closing the door behind her, Hanji stepped closer and lowered herself on the carpeted floor.

“We can figure it out.” She nodded in determination which strongly resembled the one she had before the Battle for Shiganshina.

Lips parted in disbelief left a little sigh of relief pass them. Unlike Bertholdt, he is not alone in this, it's not only him to carry Erwins will forward until the victory is won. The sad smiles they exchanged under the soft light of their lamps sealed the deal.

Armin scattered the papers around him and the new Commander, determination to work hard to break down the enemies’ world before they arrive at the gate of Wall Maria once again driving them forward, past the grief and depression of being the remaining ones.

 

 

The previous nights he took care not to meet her in front of the improvised strategizing room or however anyone cared to call it.

He quietly walked by, noting how much longer Hanji and Armin will keep gathering informations based on Bertholdts memories on the volumes of their voices, and waited somewhere else to see Hanji go off to bed, without giving her a glimpse of him.

It's much harder to fall asleep in a building too large for the number of people residing in it now, so sometimes he wandered around searching for steady sounds of those humans' breathing whose beds were long cold with dust forming another quilt on the already existing one.

But this night, maybe in loss of sense of time, he walked into Mikasa, or she walked into him, shifting awkwardly from one leg to another under his wary eyes.

“You look up on them.” He stated as matter of fact after a long moment of silence passed between them, unsure where to take this conversation to.

“So do you.” She replied evenly, her concern evident in her little frown shaped delicately between her brows.

_No need to go further._

“As obsessed as they are over that shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if they go crazy.”

Levi wasn’t sure if it was a discreet smile her lips formed or his tired mind played tricks on him, but that shit needed to be stopped. 

Without a nod or any other form of politeness, he walked past her, heading to the darkness of the corridor where no one breathed anymore.

Not even Erwin.

 

He was swallowed by darkness in front of her eyes.

When the careful steps ceased echoing against the stone, Mikasa planted her palm on her temple firmly, trying to console the headache which comes and goes more frequently now than ever before. As much as she tries to push it away, it takes its toll on her and the feeling to slide down the wall and sit on the floor overwhelmed her, so she gave in to her wish to sit for moment or two, on the floor not cleaned for more than ten days.

The upper corner of the window frame caught her attention, fixing the deep orbs onto it as a sing given before dawn, similar to those in the stories she was told as a child.

Bound in silver strings, a helpless insect in the centre of a spiders web awaited the inevitable.

Death.

**Author's Note:**

> First version published on tumblr for the prompt Obession for Hanji and Armin. After a little upgrade, here we are. :)
> 
> Thanks for reading and let me know how you like it.  
> Feedback is very welcomed.
> 
> Stay safe and remember to smile!


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